Biscuits!

I love biscuits! I mean, I really love biscuits!

They are a foundational comfort food for me- almost as necessary to my happiness as pancakes. :)

I am currently loving this adaptation. I'll make some today, to go with beef stew for dinner.

Baking Powder Biscuits
 ~makes about 10 biscuits.

~preheat oven to 400 degrees
~line your baking pan with parchment paper (not essential, but helpful)

Dry ingredients:
1 cup millet flour
1 cup arrowroot or tapioca starch
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1 Tablespoon baking powder (reduce to 2 Tablespoons if it's a new can)
1/2 teaspoon salt
~whisk all dry ingredients together well

Add:
1/2 cup Earth Balance soy-free "buttery sticks" 

(I take the "butter" straight from the refrigerator. Having it cold helps the biscuit texture.)
-OR- 

1/2 cup Spectrum palm kernel oil shortening with 1 to 2 teaspoons butter-flavored coconut oil
    

You can use a pastry blender to work the fat into the dry ingredients, but recently I've just been using my hands to break up the clumps and work them in. You don't want to overdo this- keeping the bits of fat cool is important to the finished product. Over-working with warm hands can cause the margarine/shortening to become too soft. You want the fat broken down into small bits and mostly combined with the dry ingredients, but having some of the margarine still in lumps is normal.

Liquid: 
two options-
1 cup plain vegan yogurt (I use SoDelicious plain-flavor coconut yogurt)
   (if using a small carton of yogurt, add a little coconut milk, to equal 3/4 cup or a little more)
-or-
less than 1 cup of alternative milk  (I use unsweetened,original-flavor coconut milk)
    A full cup will make the dough too wet. Start with about 2/3 cup and add more if needed.

Whichever you choose, use a fork to stir the liquid into the dry ingredients, just until combined.
Turn the dough out onto a cutting board or counter that you've dusted with millet flour and whichever starch you used. Knead the dough together lightly and pat it into a thick disk. Make sure there's plenty of flour under the dough, then roll it out gently. I like mine to be about 1/2-3/4" thick.

Shaping:
Sometimes, I do circles; sometimes squares.

(I've just gotten a new set of biscuit cutters! This poor little dull, dented cutter is gone.)  :)

For squares: trim the edges of the dough so it's a neat square or rectangle. Use a sharp knife or a bench scraper to cut it into small squares, or rectangles- whichever you prefer. Transfer them to the baking sheet.

For circles: use a round cutter that's nice and sharp. A dull cutter will mash the edges and they won't rise as much. Since gluten-free things don't rise like wheat products do, I try to give them some help to be the best they can be. :) Dipping the cutter into a bit of flour can make this part easier.

Whichever method you choose, gather up the scraps left from cutting, lightly knead them into a ball, pat out, roll and cut more biscuits. Keep doing this until all of the dough is used.

*Spacing the biscuits out will give more crunchy sides; putting them all together, with their sides touching, will give softer sides.

Bake for about 20 minutes, until they're cooked through and the bottoms are lightly golden brown.

If you leave them on the pan, the bottoms will continue to cook. As soon as they're out of the oven, move to a cooling rack or serving dish. I like to put mine in a serving bowl or basket, lined with a cloth napkin or "flour sack" dish towel.

The number of biscuits varies widely, depending on how thick you roll the dough, and what size and shape you cut.

So...if you use a cutter that's about 2" in diameter, and your dough is about 1/2" thick, you'll probably get around 10 biscuits from this recipe. You can easily double this recipe, just don't quite double the salt.

**Quicker version- Drop Biscuits: add a little more milk, 3/4 cup or a little more, to make a soft, wet dough. Scoop globs of dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. They'll be rough and craggy, and that's just how they should be. Bake for 12-15 minutes. When I make drop biscuits, I get closer to a dozen.

**our older daughter is corn-free, so I change the recipe when she's home. There are recipes for mixing up your own corn-free baking powder, so that's what I do. I also switch from xanthan gum (which can be derived from corn) to guar gum. I think guar gum makes things more "gummy" so I'll also add just a little bit of coconut flour to balance it out. Coconut flour is very drying. In this size of recipe, I'd probably use maybe a teaspoon of coconut flour.

Yum! Beef stew, with white sweet potatoes in place of potatoes, these allergen-free biscuits, and roasted Brussels Sprouts! So, so good! :)